Clips July 31, 2002

[Lillie Coney <lillie.coney@xxxxxxx>]

Clips July 31, 2002

ARTICLES

Man Hijacks al-Qaida Web Site
HP, Agilent Agree to Pay U.S. $7M
Federal Job Vacancies
Roster Change Casey Coleman at GSA as Chief Technology Officer
OMB demands management systems consolidation for HSD agencies
Defense Department to restrict employee use of wireless devices
Telecom execs tell Congress: No network disruptions
Southwest Airlines to use check-in kiosks, United to drop paper tickets
How Weblogs Keep the Media Honest
White House Sounds Call For New Internet Standards
Internet Con Artists Jailed In Federal Fraud Sweep
Robots draw rough duty as U.S. gives them combat test in Afghanistan
Study gauges job bias faced by minorities
China will spend $2.5 billion on tech research
L.A. to Track Sex Offenders on Internet
EU Seeks Views on Action Against Cybersquatters

************************
Associated Press
Man Hijacks al-Qaida Web Site
By D. IAN HOPPER, AP Technology Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - When Web operator Jon Messner gained control of one of 
al-Qaida's prime Internet communication sites, he offered it to the FBI ( 
news - web sites) to use it for disinformation and collecting data about 
sympathizers.

What followed, he says, was a week of frustration.

FBI agents struggled to find someone with enough technical know-how to set 
up the sting. By the time they did, the opportunity was lost as militant 
Islamic Web users figured out the site was a decoy, said Messner of Ocean 
City, Md.

"It was like dealing with the motor vehicle administration," said Messner, 
who runs Web sites, many of which sell pornographic materials. "We could 
have done something that could have seriously impacted things. It took me 
so many days just to get somebody who understood the Internet."

Barry Maddox, a spokesman for the FBI's Baltimore office, said Tuesday he 
could not discuss specifics involving Messner but that "there are a number 
of factors that we have to weigh prior to conducting an investigation."

"The FBI doesn't encourage private citizens to take on investigative 
techniques, but we encourage the public to give any criminal information it 
may possess, especially information involving national security or 
terrorists," he said. "All such information is taken very seriously and is 
acted upon quickly."

Though many of his Web sites involve pornography, Messner said he became 
interested in Alneda.com, a militant Islamic Web site that promotes the 
al-Qaida terror organization and carries messages from its top members.

Alneda originally was registered in Malaysia but has been chased out of 
several countries after pressure by authorities. It also has shown up on 
computers in Michigan and Texas.

Messner used a software program that probes Web site addresses whose 
registrations are about to lapse, meaning the address will go into a pool 
available for sale. When it did, Messner snapped it up and filled the site 
with Web pages from the original Arabic site.

He hoped U.S. officials could use the site for disinformation campaigns or 
to collect data on visitors who used its message boards or other resources.

Even though some features didn't work yet, his decoy site fooled some Web 
users.

Almost immediately after putting the site online July 16, he saw visitors 
from Arab nations and references to it on other militant Islamic Web sites.

"I (was) tracing back to hostile message boards that say when translated, 
'Praise Allah, the Alneda site is back up,'" Messner said.

Since he couldn't write any new articles in Arabic, he needed the FBI's 
help to keep the site alive. He said FBI officials in Baltimore and 
Salisbury, Md., encouraged his work but took too long to decide how to help 
him.

Within a week, other Arabic Web sites outed Messner's site as a phony and 
warned visitors away. He shut it down.

Since Messner gave up the Internet address, the Alneda Web site is back up 
again, this time hosted in Dayton, Ohio, and carrying a new interview with 
an al-Qaida field commander describing battles against American forces.

Messner said he handed over the data he gathered to the FBI.

Intelligence experts said the gamble on a fake Alneda site might not have 
been worthwhile.

Rather than a traditional sting operation  a routine task for the 
FBI  Messner's decoy site would be available to everyone on the Internet, 
said John Pike of Globalsecurity.org. That means the FBI might have 
inadvertently helped terrorists communicate.

"There is a difference between tossing a kilo of coke into a guy's lap and 
then cuffing him, versus going out and selling it to little children," Pike 
said. "I'm sure there would have been somebody at FBI who would have said 
this information is going to be publicly accessible. We don't even 
necessarily know all that is going to be communicated here."

Pike said that concern, coupled with the pressure caused by the Internet's 
breakneck speed, makes the lost opportunity understandable.

"It's too new, and they were probably scared," Pike said. "And they might 
have well-founded fears."

Former CIA ( news - web sites) counterterrorism expert Vincent Cannistraro 
said relying on the public to do intelligence work is dangerous.

"It may be looked on as a large resource for law enforcement. On the other 
hand, it does lend itself to massive cases of abuse," Cannistraro said. 
"When it comes to monitoring the Internet and exploiting it, you have to 
leave it to the professionals."
**************************
Associated Press
HP, Agilent Agree to Pay U.S. $7M
Wed Jul 31, 5:46 AM ET

BOSTON (AP) - Hewlett-Packard Co. and Agilent Technologies have agreed to 
pay $7 million to settle claims made by the U.S. government that the 
companies sold faulty medical equipment.

The government said that HP sold it faulty patient monitors, anesthesia gas 
modules and oxygen monitors between January 1991 and July 1997, and then 
failed to comply with federal regulations requiring the company to 
investigate and document equipment failures.

The medical equipment was used in critical situations of patient care, 
including during surgery and in intensive care units.

The settlement amount is based upon a $5,000 to $10,000 penalty for the 
claims submitted for these products to the government during the designated 
time periods. A federal court has approved the settlement as fair, 
adequate, and reasonable.

HP spun off certain portions of its business, including its medical 
products division, to become Agilent in Nov. 1999, and subsequently sold 
the medical products group in 2001.

An HP engineer, Robert Hindin, brought the matter to the attention of the 
United States and will receive 23 percent of the settlement proceeds.
*************************
Federal Computer Week
Federal Job Vacancies
Career Channels

Series/Grade: GS-2210-11/12
Position Title: Information Technology Specialist, Tuscaloosa, AL (NS) 
(Request vacancy; must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: N7-02-482-MB
Closing Date: Aug. 5, 2002
Contact: Department of Veterans Affairs, Network 7 DEU, 1670 Clairmont Rd, 
Network Business Office, Decatur, GA 30033; 678-924-5783

Series/Grade: GS-335-6
Position Title: Computer Assistant, Davis, CA (NS) (Request vacancy; must 
address ranking factors)
Announcement #: RD-CA-02-19R
Closing Date: Aug. 5, 2002
Contact: Department of Agriculture, Rural Dev, 430 G St #4169, Davis, CA 
95616; Jeanne Wheeler 530-792-5831

Series/Grade: GS-2210-9/11
Position Title: Information Technology Specialist, Denver, CO (NS) (Request 
vacancy; must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: R2-128-02D
Closing Date: Aug. 5, 2002
Contact: Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 740 Simms St, Golden, 
CO 80401; Richard J Stuart 303-275-5322

Series/Grade: GS-2210-13
Position Title: Supervisory Information Technology Specialist, Washington, 
DC (S) (Request vacancy; must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: 9-57-313-2
Closing Date: Aug. 19, 2002
Contact: Department of Agriculture, APHIS, HR Ops, 1400 Independence Ave 
SW, Room 1714 South Bldg, Washington, DC 20250; 202-720-5161

Series/Grade: GS-334-14
Position Title: Computer Specialist, Washington, DC (S) (Request vacancy; 
must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: HQOIT/02-039YTH
Closing Date: Aug. 14, 2002
Contact: Department of Treasury, Customs Service, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave, 
HRM Suite# 24B, Washington, DC 20229; 202-927-3733

Series/Grade: GS-1530-11
Position Title: Statistician, Miami, FL (NS) (Request vacancy; must address 
ranking factors)
Announcement #: C/NMF/02057.CML
Closing Date: Aug. 12, 2002
Contact: Department of Commerce, USNOAA/HRD, 601 E 12th St Room 1737, 
Kansas City, MO 64106; Carol Lammering 816-426-5016

Series/Grade: GS-335-5
Position Title: Computer Assistant, Fort Gordon, GA (NS) (Request vacancy; 
must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: X-DW-02-4037-ST
Closing Date: Aug. 7, 2002
Contact: Department of Army, DEU, SC-CPOC Bldg 5304, Attn DAPE-CP-SC-B-X, 
Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898; Carmen Davis 706-791-3956

Series/Grade: GS-1530-7
Position Title: Statistician (Economics), Chicago, IL (S) (Request vacancy; 
must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: CH-02-093-BLS
Closing Date: Aug. 5, 2002
Contact: Department of Labor, 230 S Dearborn St, Room 1026, Chicago, IL 
60604; M Martinez 312-886-5379

Series/Grade: GS-2210-14
Position Title: Supervisory Information Technology Specialist, Mission, KS 
(S) (Request vacancy; must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: OIG-I-2-86M
Closing Date: Aug. 8, 2002
Contact: Department of Agriculture, OIG PD&RM HRMD, Stop 2319, 1400 
Independence Ave SW, Room 18-E, Washington, DC 20250; Cecelia Banks 202-720-1

Series/Grade: GS-2210-7/12
Position Title: Information Technology Specialist (Applications Software), 
Minneapolis, MN (S) (Request vacancy; must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: 662-2002-0029
Closing Date: Aug. 12, 2002
Contact: Department of Agriculture, APHIS, 100 N 6th St, Ste 510C, Attn HR, 
Minneapolis, MN 55403; Cheryl Crowe 612-370-2223

Series/Grade: GS-2210-12
Position Title: Lead Information Technology Specialist, West Point, NY (S) 
(Request vacancy; must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: NEBR022140
Closing Date: Aug. 5, 2002
Contact: Department of Army, NE Staff Div, 314 Johnson St, Aberdeen PG, MD 
21005-5283; Glenda Corder 410-306-0021

Series/Grade: GS-334-13/14
Position Title: Supervisory Computer Specialist, Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (NS) 
(Request vacancy; must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: R6-02-049
Closing Date: Aug. 7, 2002
Contact: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Admin & Res Plng/HR Div, 
16825 S Seton Ave, Emmitsburg, MD 21727; 301-447-1

Series/Grade: GS-854-13
Position Title: Computer Engineer, Falls Church, VA (NS) (Request vacancy; 
must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: 02-320DP
Closing Date: Aug. 9, 2002
Contact: Department of Defense, DISA, Pers, Div, Attn 02-320DP, 701 South 
Courthouse Rd, Arlington, VA 22204-2199; Doris Powers 703-607-4428

Series/Grade: GS-854-14
Position Title: Computer Engineer, Falls Church, VA (NS) (Request vacancy; 
must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: 02-325DP
Closing Date: Aug. 9, 2002
Contact: Department of Defense, DISA, Pers, Div, Attn 02-325DP, 701 South 
Courthouse Rd, Arlington, VA 22204-2199; Doris Powers 703-607-4428

Series/Grade: GS-1550-14
Position Title: Computer Scientist, Falls Church, VA (NS) (Request vacancy; 
must address ranking factors)
Announcement #: 02-325DP
Closing Date: Aug. 9, 2002
Contact: Department of Defense, DISA, Pers, Div, Attn 02-325DP, 701 South 
Courthouse Rd, Arlington, VA 22204-2199; Doris Powers 703-607-4428

Series/Grade: GS-334-14
Position Title: Webmaster, Northern,VA (S) (Request vacancy; must address 
ranking factors)
Announcement #: HQOIT/02-040YTH
Closing Date: Aug. 12, 2002
Contact: Department of Treasury, Customs Service, HRM Hqs Svc Ctr 2 4f, 
1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20229; US Customs Service 202-927-3733
***********************
Federal Computer Week
Roster Change Casey Coleman at GSA as Chief Technology Officer

Casey Coleman has been appointed to serve as chief technology officer for 
the General Services Administration's new Office of Citizen Services and 
Communications, GSA announced July 25.

Coleman will oversee the technology strategy for the citizen-centered 
services performed by GSA, now centralized within the Office of Citizen 
Services and Communications. This includes the FirstGov Web portal and the 
Federal Consumer Information Center, which the agency plans to enhance with 
Web and e-mail access.

Coleman has been in the information technology industry for more than 15 
years and spent the past several years working with several Internet 
start-up firms, including Rational Software Corp. and Kana Communications.

For more, see "Tech chief picked for new GSA office"
************************
Government Computer News
OMB demands management systems consolidation for HSD agencies
By Dipka Bhambhani

The Office of Management Budget has placed further IT development 
constraints on agencies it expects to become part of the proposed Homeland 
Security Department.

Today, OMB director Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. sent a memo to the agencies 
ordering them to cease work on any financial, personnel or procurement 
system project valued at more than $500,000. He issued a similar request 
for IT infrastructure systems earlier this month [see story at 
www.gcn.com/12_21/news/19472-1.html].

For instance, the Daniels memo said, the agencies are working on 21 
different financial systems projects and have earmarked $235 million for 
these efforts, although the memo gave no time frame for this spending 
figure. The government could save $85 million over the next two years if 
these 21 systems are consolidated, Daniels said.

"These IT investment decisions were made prior to the president's 
announcement creating HSD and must be reconsidered in light of the planned 
reorganization," he said.

OMB expects the agencies can integrate their management processes in a 
single system.

As with the infrastructure systems, OMB has chartered a new team, the 
Business Systems IT Investment Review Group, to study the agencies' 
management systems and recommend how to consolidate systems that support 
similar services.

The memo also asked the likely HSD agencies to identify any current or 
planned spending on management systems that they had not already provided 
to OMB in their fiscal 2002 and fiscal 2003 budget requests.

"Not only is consolidation possible, it has been used effectively in the 
recent past," Daniels said.
***********************
Government Executive
Defense Department to restrict employee use of wireless devices
By Drew Clark, National Journal's Technology Daily

Defense Department employees soon will face restrictions on their use of 
wireless devices, including wireless network cards and personal digital 
assistants, when conducting departmental business, top officials said Tuesday.

"We are going to put constraints about what type [of devices] and where 
they can be used" and take other measures designed to minimize security 
risks, John Stenbit, an assistant Defense secretary, said at a conference 
on wireless security sponsored by the Center for Strategic and 
International Studies.

Widespread concern over the security vulnerabilities of wireless devices 
drove the Pentagon to formulate the policy, which could be released in 
weeks, said Stenbit, who is also the department's chief information officer.

Because even conventional cellular phones can record and transmit 
information, they can be vulnerable in the hands of a sophisticated 
adversary. The new rules may sanction certain commercial devices but bar 
others, depending on their security parameters, he said.

He summarized the department's dilemma by saying, "We don't believe that 
the commercial world will meet our standards, and yet we are dependent upon 
commercial technology to be able to meet our goals" as a military.

Both Stenbit and Robert Gorrie, deputy director of the Pentagon's 
Defense-wide Information Assurance Program Office (DIAP), said that 
concerns about wireless security do not mean that the department would 
eliminate or ban the use of wireless devices.

"That would be stupid because we can get so much from this technology," 
Gorrie said. "We need to take prudent action that allows the co-evolution 
of the technologies and the security policies that go with it." He said a 
balanced approach would allow the departmentrather than an individual 
service or divisionto set usage rules with appropriate security procedures.

"The soldiers and sailors on the leading edge depend on all the other 
databases" deployed by the military, Gorrie said, and the confidentiality 
of each of them must be protected.

Other panel members from business and government also lamented the lack of 
wireless security but agreed that we "don't give up on wireless," said 
Joseph Wilkes, the director of advanced wireless network architecture at 
Telecordia Technologies. "The answer is to secure it."

The security problem was amply illustrated when moderator Scott Charney, 
chief security officer at Microsoft, asked how many of the crowd of about 
100 participants used 802.11 wireless networks, a commonly deployed means 
of high-speed Internet access. Nearly every one used them.

When Charney then asked how many people believed the networks were 
reasonably secure, only one or two people raised their hands. The reason 
most continued to use insecure devices ranged from a belief that they send 
non-sensitive information to the fact that they do not believe the risk of 
hacking is likely or that they think the convenience of the technology 
overwhelms its risk.

"This is the problem with the Internet: Everyone wanted to use it" even 
though initial security measures were limited, Charney said. "Now the same 
thing is happening with wireless."
*************************
Computerworld
Telecom execs tell Congress: No network disruptions

WASHINGTON -- Top corporate officials representing a who's who of troubled 
telecommunications companies appeared before a U.S. Senate panel today 
along with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell to 
assure worried lawmakers that the industry's financial problems won't lead 
to network disruptions.
"If there are service disruptions, this is going to radiate enormous damage 
to the American economy," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said at today's Commerce, 
Science and Transportation Committee hearing.

Although Powell sees years of pain ahead for telecommunications companies 
as they come to terms with enormous debt acquired during the years of 
explosive growth in the late 1990s, he was optimistic about the sector's 
potential and doesn't foresee service problems.

While the industry is under "extremely fundamental duress," said Powell, "I 
don't believe it's on the verge of complete failure. I do believe it 
actually has real prospects for recovery and will recover."

Industry representatives gave similar assurances.

"We are not going to have any service disruptions as a result of this 
bankruptcy to the government or anyone," said John Sidgmore, the CEO of 
WorldCom Inc., whose company recently filed for bankruptcy after it was 
discovered it had overstated earnings by almost $4 billion (see story).

But Powell also called for some immediate changes to protect businesses and 
consumers from service disruptions.

The Communications Act of 1934 includes a provision that requires carriers 
to provide 31 days' notice before terminating a service. The FCC also has 
the power to order continuation of that service beyond the one-month 
warning period.

But that notice period may not cover Internet backbone providers, cable 
services and other services not imagined when the law was written decades 
ago. That could be an issue in bankruptcy, said Powell. If a 
telecommunications company seeks to end a service, it could argue in court 
that it isn't covered under the Communications Act.

"Often, the bankruptcy judge, whose interest is in protecting debtors and 
creditors, wants the service shut down to stop the bleeding," said Powell.

After hearing Powell's call for stronger protections against service 
disruptions, Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-S.C.), the committee chairman, 
said he was in agreement and would try to get something done before 
Congress finishes up for the year.

Most of the questions aimed at Powell and the CEOs who testified weren't 
about service disruptions but about corporate accounting practices, 
including the awarding of large bonuses to corporate executives while 
company finances were sliding.

Testifying with Sidgmore were John Legere, the CEO of Global Crossing Ltd., 
which is also in bankruptcy; and Afshin Mohebbi, the president and chief 
operating officer of Qwest Communications International Inc., which this 
past weekend said it would be restating 2000 and 2001 financial statements.

"There's something bad wrong -- I don't know what it is," said Sen. Max 
Cleland (D-Ga.). "We now have an implosion in the telecom industry that's 
not only hurting our economy, it's hurting America."

Powell blamed it on a gold rush mentality in the 1990s that had companies 
overspending, reaching staggering debt levels that revenue couldn't cover.

"The most fundamental crossing of the Rubicon was that some companies under 
those unrelenting pressures choose to cheat and they choose to cheat in 
order to keep the party going," Powell said.

Sidgmore said his company's books were checked by internal auditors and 
it's external auditor, Arthur Andersen, and each time the audit reports 
came back "totally clean."

"Unfortunately, you really can't very easily defend against a deliberate 
change to the books, and that's really what happened," said Sidgmore.
***********************
Computerworld
Southwest Airlines to use check-in kiosks, United to drop paper tickets

Southwest Airlines Co. is installing self-service kiosks at major airports 
across the U.S. to speed the dreaded airline check-in process for passengers.
And United Air Lines Inc. today announced plans to stop issuing paper 
tickets and move to an all-electronic ticketing system by the end of 2003.

For both airlines, the moves will save money and hopefully simplify travel 
for their customers.

Instead of standing in line at the ticket counter, Southwest passengers 
using electronic tickets will be able to go to a specially marked kiosk 
where they can check in, pay for their tickets, get their boarding passes 
and collect their frequent flier miles.

In a deal announced yesterday, Southwest is paying IBM about $2 million for 
approximately 250 "rapid check-in" kiosks that will be installed in 
airports including San Antonio, Phoenix, Nashville, Houston Hobby, Chicago 
Midway, Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Sacramento, Orlando and 
Baltimore/Washington. The kiosks are already in operation at Dallas' Love 
Field.

Linda Rutherford, a spokeswoman for Dallas-based Southwest, said her 
company has watched other airlines install kiosks for passengers for 
several years and decided to bring in its own system to give Southwest 
customers the same benefits.

"We're certainly not the first to do them," she said. "We were slow to 
automate our procedures because we have a very simple operating system. We 
didn't want to do technology just for technology's sake."

The new kiosks come one month after Southwest finished speeding and 
automating its check-in process in June, moving from numbered, colored 
plastic boarding cards to paper passes with printed customer information. 
Both moves are part of Southwest's attempt to ease travel hassles for 
customers since security was heightened after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Steve Orr, an IBM global airline executive, said about 85% of Southwest's 
passengers already use electronic tickets and will be able to speed their 
check-in by going to the kiosks instead of the counter. For customers 
needing ticket exchanges or other more complicated transactions, the ticket 
counter lines will still await them.

"It takes one element of uncertainty away from the traveling experience," 
Orr said, by reducing the wait to check in. With the kiosks, customers will 
know they will avoid long lines and extended waits. "You couldn't always 
say that," he said.

The machines, which are designed and built by IBM, are all expected to be 
installed by the Thanksgiving holiday travel season. More machines can be 
added as needed. "I don't think you'll see long lines at the kiosks," Orr 
said.

IBM has installed similar kiosk systems for other airlines, including Air 
Canada, Alitalia, British Airways PLC, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and United.

Meanwhile, United said it will shift to electronic tickets to better serve 
customers. Paper tickets will end for flights in the U.S. next July and for 
all eligible domestic and international flights by January 2004.

Starting Thursday, United will charge $20 for all customer-requested paper 
tickets issued by United in the U.S., the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

"We want our customers to have a simple, hassle-free experience at the 
airport," said Pete McDonald, senior vice president of United's airport 
operations, in a statement.

Kate Rice, an independent travel analyst in New York, said the 
announcements from both airlines show how the industry continues to use 
technology to reduce costs and increase customer service.

United's move to electronic tickets "shows how far e-tickets have come," 
she said. "It just totally makes sense in terms of reducing their costs."

For Southwest, she said, the delay in moving to the kiosks "is classic 
Southwest, where they didn't jump on the technology right away."

The kiosks are an extension of the Internet for the 31-year-old airline, 
which already sells many of its tickets online, Rice said. "It's just a 
natural move for a company whose main goal is keeping it simple and 
cost-effective."

Lorraine Sileo, a travel analyst at PhocusWright Inc. in Sherman, Conn., 
agreed. Customers are beginning to warm to using the kiosks, she said, 
though it has taken a few years.

"Anything that cuts down on the lines has grown in popularity," Sileo said. 
"If there's nothing you can do about the security line, at least you can 
expedite the check-in line."
**********************
Washington Post
How Weblogs Keep the Media Honest
By Howard Kurtz

Bloggers are busting chops, big time.

The latest evidence: Some big media organizations are now quoting their 
criticism of other big media organizations.

It's called influencing the debate, in real time.

Web loggers, for those who have been vacationing on Mars, are one-person 
Internet blabbermouths who pop off to anyone is willing to listen. They 
often slam each other like pro wrestlers, but some of the best take 
on  sometimes fairly, sometimes unfairly, often ideologically  the big 
newspapers and networks.

Some media critics dismiss bloggers as self-indulgent cranks. That's a 
mistake. They now provide a kind of instant feedback loop for media 
corporations that came of age in an era of one-way communications. 
Sometimes these are just policy arguments dressed up as media criticism, 
but that's okay.

They also call attention to good reporting, although that's not as much fun.

Many seem to be picking on the New York Times these days. That may be in 
part because it's the nation's biggest metropolitan daily and hugely 
influential. It may be in part because critics say the liberal former 
editorial page editor Howell Raines is pushing the paper to the left. And 
it may be that some detractors just resent the Times's power. (There was 
even a daily assault called SmarterTimes.com until the proprietor became 
managing editor of the New York Sun.)

U.S. News columnist John Leo taps into the blogging phenomenon, and in 
particular its anti-Times strain:

"When the New York Times ran a front-page report on civilian casualties in 
Afghanistan ('Flaws in U.S. Air War Left Hundreds of Civilians Dead'), 
bloggers descended on the article like ants on a picnic. . . .

"On his site, the Politburo, blogger Michael Moynihan noted that the 
Times's source for the toll of 812 dead was Marla Ruzicka, identified as a 
field worker in Afghanistan for Global Exchange, 'an American 
organization.' What the Times didn't say, Moynihan wrote, is that Global 
Exchange is a far-left group opposing globalization and the U.S. military. 
. . .

"The mighty Times may not have noticed that a lot of bloggers  some with 
small reputations, some with no reputations at all  now swarm over its news 
columns searching for errors and bias. The established media learned long 
ago how to marginalize critics and shrug off complaints of bias as the 
ravings of right-wing fanatics.

"But the bloggers aren't so easily dismissed. They don't bluster. They deal 
in specifics and they work quickly, while the stories they target are 
fresh. They link to sources, to one another's sites, and to the articles 
under attack, so readers can judge for themselves. The blogging revolution, 
says commentator Andrew Sullivan, the best-known blogger, 'undermines media 
tyrants.'

"On June 16, a startling front-page article in the Times reported that 
Alaska's mean temperature rose 7 degrees over the past 30 years. Sullivan 
checked with Alaska weather authorities and wrote that the Times figures 
were greatly exaggerated. The Times published a correction, stating that 
Alaska temperatures rose 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit, not 7, over the past 30 
years. But the Alaska Climate Research Center said the correction was 
incorrect. The Times correction of 5.4 degrees was still double the real 
temperature increase.

"Sullivan argued that the Times had 'cherry-picked' data for maximum 
effect, measuring the 30 years from 1966, one of the century's four coldest 
years, through 1995, one of the hottest. A report from the Center for 
Global Change said Alaskan temperatures did not rise consistently over the 
20th century  the pattern was back and forth: warming until 1940, cooling 
until the 1960s, then warming again."

(Sullivan, as we noted awhile back, has blamed Raines for the paper's 
decision to drop him as a contributor without a word of public explanation.)

"Sullivan was also one of the bloggers who attacked the anti-Bush polling 
story run by the Times on July 18 under the headline 'Poll Finds Concerns 
That Bush Is Overly Influenced by Business.' That story seemed like an 
attempt to turn a poll favorable to the president into a vague vote of no 
confidence. . . .

"Jack Shafer of Slate joined the Times-bashing bloggers, complaining about 
a July 1 story, 'Bush Slashing Aid for EPA Cleanup at 33 Toxic Sites.' That 
story misrepresented a partisan squabble over whether cleanups of 'orphaned 
sites' (whose owners have gone bankrupt) should be financed by tax revenues 
or a revival of the Superfund tax, phased out in 1995. Shafer wrote that 
funding has remained steady in recent years and the Bushies want a modest 
increase for 2003, so the headline could have been, 'Bush Superfund Budget 
Grows Slightly.'"


Now Shafer's at it again, as we'll see later.

The Senate is in serious wrist-slapping mode, delivering a glorified 
tongue-lashing  but nothing more  to Robert Torricelli.

"The Senate ethics committee 'severely admonished' U.S. Sen. Robert 
Torricelli yesterday for violating a ban on accepting gifts and ordered him 
to repay a New Jersey businessman up to $2,000 for a 52-inch television, a 
stereo CD player and several pairs of earrings," says the Newark Star-Ledger.

Torricelli wears earrings?

"The stern letter, signed by the panel's three Republicans and three 
Democrats, ended years of scrutiny into Torricelli's tumultuous 
relationship with David Chang, who is serving an 18-month prison sentence 
for making illegal donations to the senator's 1996 campaign.

"The committee decided Torricelli used poor judgment in continuing a 
personal relationship with Chang at the same time he was helping the 
businessman try to win the repayment of a $71 million loan from the North 
Korean government.

"And while the committee did not deal with the most serious of Chang's 
allegations that he gave Torricelli expensive suits, bundles of cash and a 
Rolex watch it did say Torricelli's actions showed a lack of regard for 
Senate rules and created 'at least the appearance of impropriety.'"


Well, it beats the eight years in prison that ex-congressman James 
Traficant got yesterday. Although he says he's running for reelection.

At a White House bill-signing yesterday, Bush practically stuck a cigarette 
holder between his teeth at a jaunty angle, according to this New York 
Times account:

"In a sign of how profoundly the nation's business scandals and volatile 
stock market have rocked his administration, a show of solemn pageantry 
prevailed this morning as President Bush signed a sweeping bill to crack 
down on corporate fraud.

"Even though he had opposed central provisions of the legislation just 
three weeks ago and had promoted his team's corporate experience in his 
presidential campaign, Mr. Bush cast himself today as the protector of the 
small investor and the rank-and-file worker.

Vowing stiff punishment for corporate wrongdoers, Mr. Bush bluntly 
threatened, 'No more easy money for corporate criminals, just hard time.' 
He called the legislation 'the most far-reaching reforms of American 
business practices since the time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.'"


As for that big Democratic confab in Manhattan, The Washington Post says 
Hillary stole the show:

"The Democratic Leadership Council's summer convention here this week was 
supposed to provide a forum for the party's prospective presidential 
candidates. But it was a Gore who didn't attend and a Clinton who did who 
captured the most attention, and that may be an omen for the party as it 
looks to 2004. . . .

"Thanks to his old running mate, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), Gore 
quickly became part of the conversation without even showing up. Lieberman 
inexplicably used a Sunday night session with reporters to reopen old 
wounds within the party over Gore's 2000 campaign, complaining that Gore's 
'people vs. the powerful' message strayed from centrist principles and may 
have cost the Democrats the election.

"Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) was given the coveted slot as keynote 
speaker at the DLC's lunch on Monday. By the time she finished with a 
strong defense of her husband's economic record and a spirited invocation 
of the values at the heart of the DLC, she had overshadowed three possible 
2004 presidential candidates who had spoken earlier in the morning."


ABC's Note tracks the culinary habits of the ex-veep:

"When Al Gore's spokesman said that the former Veep wouldn't be addressing 
Democratic Leadership Council in New York because of a 'prior commitment' 
scheduling conflict, little did anyone attending or covering the meeting 
realize just how apparently questionable that boilerplate excuse was. . . .

"The Note has learned that Gore was down the street having lunch at the 
Regency Hotel. Yahoo, Mr. Vice President, says the distance from the 
Regency to the Hilton is 0.8 miles, and can be covered in two minutes 
(although we concede that midday traffic might have made the trip a bit 
longer). . . .

"Two sources say Mr. Gore was dining with a Tisch, a key family in 
Democratic politics to be sure, but if the Note were running for the 
Democratic nomination, the Note would prefer to do it with DLC Big Al 
From's support, or at least, without his enmity.

"Since insiders' biggest concerns about Gore being the nominee revolve 
around whether he has the political judgment to win the White House, we 
wonder whose advice he was listening to when he decided to stiff the 
second-most important group in the Democratic nominating process (after 
labor), without the sense to get off the island of Manhattan. . . . 
'Lichtenstein' is a scheduling conflict; 'lunch' in the neighborhood really 
isn't."


The on-again, off-again invasion is back on  but not anytime soon.

"Bush administration officials have told key lawmakers not to expect a U.S. 
attack on Iraq before the fall elections, allowing time for Congress to 
debate the possibility of war," says USA Today.

"Senior administration officials gave the assurances in private 
conversations with senators planning a series of hearings that begin today 
into a possible U.S. attack on Iraq. The officials said there would be no 
'October surprise'  a sudden attack before the Nov. 5 congressional 
elections to remove Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"The assurances square with Pentagon estimates that it would take until 
early next year to have the weapons, intelligence and forces in place to 
take on Iraq's 375,000-man army. One key factor: U.S. soldiers can't fight 
in Iraq's summer or autumn heat wearing protective gear against chemical or 
biological weapons attack.


The Hill would like to put its two cents in, says the Wall Street Journal:

"The Senate begins hearings today on U.S. war plans for Iraq, notably 
without any Bush administration witnesses. The White House and Pentagon say 
they are still formulating strategy but may be able to send representatives 
some time in the fall. . . .

"California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced a resolution 
opposing military action in Iraq without congressional authorization or a 
declaration of war, and she called on the administration to present proof 
of Iraq's involvement in terrorism or developing weapons of mass 
destruction. 'At this point, the United States would be alone,' she warned."

Slate's Jack Shafer wonders about the recent river of press leaks:

"The first question to ask about these stories is whether Rumsfeld is 
right: Are the leaks  and their publication by the Times and other 
papers  endangering American lives? But beyond that issue, readers must be 
wondering why these conflicting plans  which would appear to tip our hand 
to the enemy  keep showing up in the damn newspaper.

"Do these stories simply reflect the conflicting preferences of different 
military officials? Or is the Pentagon using the Times to confuse the 
Iraqis about the impending attack as part of an 'information operation' 
(formerly 'disinformation') campaign? More sinisterly, is the Times 
partnering with the Pentagon to bamboozle the Iraqis? . . .

"First, no American servicemen were harmed  or will be harmed  by the Times 
stories. The defense press corps routinely asks official Washington two 
questions when covering stories like these: Is the information accurate? 
And does the story endanger the operation's security? . . .

"But in another way, the Times clearly is misleading its readers about U.S. 
battlefield intentions. Both the headlines ('U.S. Plan for Iraq Is Said To 
Include Attack on 3 Sides,' 'U.S. Exploring Baghdad Strike as Iraq Option') 
and the sensational opening paragraphs are designed to make feel as if 
you're ringside with the president in the war room  but you're not.

"By placing the stories on Page One, the paper commits the unpardonable sin 
of commanding reader attention that's not really warranted. By the Times' 
own admission in paragraph 15 of yesterday's story, neither of the invasion 
scenarios so lovingly hyped is likely to unfold."


National Review's Jonah Goldberg slams Gore but (sort of) defends Clinton:

"Over the weekend, Gore explained, once again, that President Bush is 
responsible for the corporate meltdown. According to Gore, Bush's tax cut 
created a climate of 'unfettered corporate greed,' which encouraged 
companies like Enron to collapse. . . .

"In short, according to Gore, past events were caused by future acts. In 
Star Trek, they usually call this sort of thing an 'anomaly in the 
space-time continuum.' . . .

"To be honest, much as I would like to blame Bill Clinton for the financial 
scandals of the last few months, intellectual honesty forbids it. Clinton 
did many bad things, but the idea that he's responsible for the bad acts of 
WorldCom or Enron just doesn't scan.

"Corporate executives do not commit crimes because the president of the 
United States commits crimes. They don't behave recklessly because the 
president behaves recklessly. Indeed, CEOs probably became a bit more 
careful about taking the Nestea plunge into the intern pool after 
witnessing Bill Clinton's troubles. But the idea that some CEO okayed the 
transfer of debts into the earnings column because of Bill Clinton's 
presidency is just plain silly. . . .

"However, the only thing dumber than the idea that these CEOs committed 
these crimes because of Bill Clinton's presidency is the notion that they 
did it because George Bush was going to be president in a few years."


The aforementioned Andrew Sullivan continues his Times-bashing:

"The anti-war coverage is getting really intense now. We've had the Powell 
puff-piece, the Powell editorial, the cover-piece on why the Kurds fear a 
war, and now a piece about how a war will hurt the economy. Here's the 
classic editorial paragraph stuffed into a news non-story:

"'Already, the federal budget deficit is expanding, meaning that the bill 
for a war would lead either to more red ink or to cutbacks in domestic 
programs. If consumer and investor confidence remains fragile, military 
action could have substantial psychological effects on the financial 
markets, retail spending, business investment, travel and other key 
elements of the economy, officials and experts said.'

"Could it get any more obvious? One question: wouldn't lots of military 
spending help the economy? Meanwhile, having blasted the market slide from 
the rooftops for days on end, the Times now buries the current rally 
inside. I guess when you have broadcast a bubble correction as the 
consequence of the Bush administration, it's embarrassing when a rally 
gathers steam. When do you think Howell Raines will commission a poll to 
see if the public credits Bush for higher stock prices?"


Finally, we guess there still is such a thing as looking too Jewish. The 
New York Post reports:

"Israel has canceled an Albert Einstein exhibit in China after Beijing 
officials insisted there be no reference to his being Jewish or a supporter 
of the Jewish state, a government spokesman said yesterday.

"The collection of Einstein memorabilia was to open in Beijing next month 
and travel to five other Chinese cities, in the biggest cultural exchange 
ever between the two countries. But as details of the exhibit were being 
finalized recently, Chinese officials demanded the deletion of a printed 
paragraph in the display.

"The paragraph described Einstein as a Jew, a supporter of the creation of 
Israel and someone who was offered the presidency of the country by David 
Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister."
************************
Washington Post
White House Sounds Call For New Internet Standards
By Brian Krebs

The expected wireless Web revolution may prompt the federal government to 
fund a redesign of the protocols that underpin the Internet, the White 
House's chief cybersecurity adviser said today.

Richard Clarke, the administration's cybersecurity czar, said it may be 
time to consider replacing the "creaky, cranky" 20-year-old protocols that 
drive the Internet with standards better suited to accommodate a flood of 
new wireless devices -- and the security holes that may come with them.

"We need to think a little bit about the underlying mechanisms of the 
Internet if there are going to be billions of wireless Web enabled devices 
all over the world," he said. "We have a positive obligation to be 
proactive in the development of voluntary standards and in funding the 
necessary research."

The White House is working with the private sector to draft a national plan 
designed to secure the country's most vital computer networks from 
cyberattack. That plan, set to be released Sept. 18, will include several 
policy recommendations to beef up wireless security, Clarke said.

Clarke said the companies that make and market wireless networks have an 
obligation to notify their customers of the security risks that may come 
with their products.

Wireless networks are cheap - about $100 - and easy to use, but they are 
also easy to misconfigure. Companies that deploy poorly configured wireless 
networks virtually invite hackers to explore their internal networks, 
Clarke said.

"It seems irresponsible for industry to sell a product that could be so 
easily misused by customers in a way that jeopardizes their proprietary and 
confidential information," he said.

Vinton Cerf, the computer scientist who helped co-develop the protocol that 
allows computers to communicate with one another over the Internet, 
welcomed the chance "to rethink" the role of security in today's World Wide 
Web, saying he is similarly disturbed about the security problems posed by 
the proliferation of wireless devices.

"Dick is right to highlight this as a major issue," Cerf said. "The hope is 
that his words will stimulate work in this area so that the bulk of devices 
out there will one day have better security than they might have otherwise."

Nearly 81 percent of major businesses today use or plan to use wireless 
networks, according to a recent survey by the World Information Technology 
and Services Alliance and the Wireless IT Research Group.

Clarke acknowledged that government could be forced to foot the bill in 
fostering the development of stronger security and communications 
standards, given the current economic outlook for the telecom sector.

"We have an obligation to think about ensuring the health of the Internet," 
he said. "If that means we need to get back in and do more funding of 
research and development, if that means the federal government has to be 
the lead deployer of new technologies to see if they work, then I think we 
shouldn't shrink from that."
***********************
Washington Post
Internet Con Artists Jailed In Federal Fraud Sweep
By David McGuire

The 12-year prison sentences doled out to a pair of online con artists 
caught in a multi-agency Internet fraud sweep should serve as a warning 
that virtual scammers can spend a long time in real jail cells, federal 
authorities said today.

"Prosecutors are willing to do these cases and seek significant jail time," 
Steve Baker, the director of the Federal Trade Commission's Midwest bureau 
said today. "Five or six years ago I don't think that was the case."

The 12-year jail terms, handed down by a Missouri circuit court to 
residents Phillip Chapman and Amanda Warren, could be the longest sentences 
ever issued for Internet fraud, FTC attorney and online auction expert 
Delores Thompson said today.

"I can't recall such a lengthy sentence," Thompson said, adding that the 
Missouri criminal crackdown wouldn't be the last. Warren and Chapman got 
five years for writing bad checks and seven years for theft charges related 
to Internet auction fraud.

Chapman and Warren would offer big ticket items -- like laptops and 
baseball cards -- for sale on auction sites run by eBay and Yahoo. When 
consumers paid for the items, the pair took the money didn't send the 
goods, according to Missouri authorities.

Online auction fraud accounts for by far the largest number of 
Internet-related complaints that the FTC receives, Thompson said.

The Missouri case was one of 19 civil and criminal law enforcement actions 
filed in a cross-border sweep of Internet scams. The FTC, Postal Inspection 
Service, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange 
Commission coordinated with 10 state attorneys general and 11 other state 
and local law enforcement groups in the cases.

Although the sweep focused on scams operated out of the Midwest, the 
actions announced today involved criminals who bilked Internet users across 
the country out of millions of dollars, according to the agencies.

Baker said other multi-agency "Netforce" coalitions would conduct similar 
operations in different regions of the country. He also said that the 
Midwest sweep would generate at least 19 more civil and criminal actions 
within the next few months.

Efforts to educate state, local and federal authorities about Internet 
fraud are now paying dividends because a more prosecutors are willing to 
file criminal cases against online scammers, Baker said.

"It is nice to see that more and more law enforcement personnel are 
comfortable bringing this cases," Thompson added. "What is noteworthy to me 
here is that there are adequate laws on the books to address this kind of 
fraud."

Thompson said the convictions and other actions announced today should 
dispel the notion, held by some scammers, that Internet fraud exists in a 
legal no man's land, where prosecution is difficult, if not impossible.

One of the other major actions in the sweep was against an online scam -- 
dubbed "Stuffing for Cash" -- in which consumers were promised $2 for every 
envelope they could stuff with a sales letter. Consumers paid $40 to 
participate in the privilege of participating in the program, and received 
no materials and no money, authorities said.

The authors of that scam collected $2 million from consumers in the last 
year alone, according to the FTC. At the commission's request, a federal 
district court has frozen those defendants' assets, pending trial.
***********************
San Francisco Gate
Robots draw rough duty as U.S. gives them combat test in Afghanistan

Hermes the robot edged its way into the dark cave, its treads spinning over 
the dust and small rocks until a boulder appeared in its path. No problem. 
The tiny machine dropped its side arms, lifted onto and over the boulder, 
and rolled on, its two cameras sending images to an operator waiting outside.

The war in Afghanistan is the first time robots are being used by the U.S. 
military as tools for combat. Proponents believe sending them into caves, 
buildings or other dark areas ahead of troops will help prevent U.S. 
casualties.

On Monday, Hermes was first to enter many of the dozen caves being searched 
by troops from the 82nd Airborne Division, based in Fort Bragg, N.C. 
Mounted with two cameras and rolling on lime-green wheels and tan treads, 
the 1-foot-tall, 3-foot-long Hermes disappeared into the darkness, sending 
images back to a controller who used a joystick to maneuver the robot over 
boulders, around obstacles and through ground that could be mined or 
otherwise dangerous.

"The robot is a great addition to our team," said Lt. Col. Ron Rose, who 
led Monday's mission in Qiqay, about 20 miles southeast of Khost in eastern 
Afghanistan, where U.S. forces are searching for remnants of the Taliban 
and al-Qaida. "It is going to prove its worth."

A one-mile stretch of land along a dried-up riverbed here holds at least a 
dozen caves, some with roughly hewn entrances and shallow depths, others 
with almost perfectly arched entrances. All were potential hiding places.

Hermes traversed the entire length of two tunnels, coming out safely on the 
other side. It found no danger, ensuring that the area was safe for soldiers.

The weight of the robot -- 42 pounds -- is enough to set off any buried 
mines. Its height is enough to trip booby-trap wires at foot level. For any 
traps set higher, or for a general scan of the area, the robots rely on 
their cameras, which continually scope out their surroundings. Hermes, a 
prototype, can be fitted with up to 12 cameras.

After Hermes proved a cave was safe, soldiers entered, drawing maps and 
taking measurements to calculate the amount of explosives needed to blow up 
the cave so it could not be used as a hiding place.

Col. Bruce Jette, director of the robotics team, said the robots are a 
perfect way to increase the safety for soldiers -- a great leap from the 
Vietnam War, when a lone soldier would be sent into a dark area with a rope 
tied around him to assess the danger.

"This is history," Jette said. "Nobody has ever used a robot in combat 
before."

Jette, deputy of the Objective Force Task Force, was asked in May by the 
U.S. Department of Defense to head the project, and brought the completed 
prototypes here a month ago. They have been tested by a few different 
military companies and will be left behind to assist U.S. troops in 
Afghanistan.

Jette said the soldiers have seen the value of the robots and even 
suggested more uses for them, including as security monitors or listening 
posts.

The four, $40,000 prototypes -- Hermes, Professor, Thing and Fester -- can 
hold up to 12 cameras, a grenade launcher and a 12-gauge shotgun. The 
robots operate on a sensor system and by wireless desktop control. They are 
fitted with a Global Positioning System, and can see themselves and each 
other on a map, ensuring more efficient searches. They run on 2, 6-pound 
rechargeable batteries that run one hour each.

Jette returns Wednesday to the United States, and will put together an 
analysis of the robots and their effectiveness in the field.
************************
Mercury News
Study gauges job bias faced by minorities
STATE'S PLAYING FIELD `NOT LEVEL'
By Sarah Lubman

Job opportunities for minorities and women in California have expanded 
dramatically over the past two decades, but both groups still face 
substantial discrimination, according to a new study by two professors at 
the Rutgers School of Law in Newark, N.J.

The study, based on an analysis of federal data on 12,600 California 
employers, concluded that more than 193,000 workers faced discrimination. 
The study assumes that companies with very low numbers of minorities and 
women are discriminating.

``The playing field of employment in this state is clearly not level,'' 
wrote Alfred W. and Ruth G. Blumrosen, the study's authors.

But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that 
monitors workplace discrimination and the source of the data for the study, 
questioned its conclusions. The study's reliance on EEO-1 forms -- a 
demographic workforce breakdown filed annually by large and mid-size 
employers -- presents an incomplete snapshot of the fluid labor market, an 
agency spokeswoman said.

``There are so many different nuances that just aren't there,'' said 
Jennifer Kaplan, adding that the agency, through experience, avoids relying 
on EEO-1 statistics alone to enforce anti-discrimination laws.

Data from 1990-99

The husband-and-wife Blumrosen team examined EEO-1 data collected between 
1990 and 1999. They compared how many women and minority employees a 
company employed in various job categories to the number employed at other 
firms in the same industry and metropolitan area. The companies weren't 
identified by name.

If a firm's employment of women or minorities was dramatically below the 
local industry average over a 10-year period -- so far below the average 
that the odds were 1 in 100 the disparity was because of chance -- the 
Blumrosens described it as a ``hard core discriminator.''

By their calculations, the Los Angeles and Orange County areas had the 
greatest share of workers who faced discrimination. San Jose and San 
Francisco each had 10 percent. And Oakland had 9 percent. The number of 
affected workers represents the difference between actual employment and 
what would exist if a company hired at the average for that industry, 
region and occupation.

Even if workers choose not to join a particular company with low numbers of 
minorities or women, ``the employer has the burden of proving it's not 
discrimination,'' Alfred Blumrosen said.

Statewide, hospitals emerged as the most discriminatory industry. Two 
high-tech industries also made the top 10 list: electronic components, 
which came in fourth place, and computer and data processing, in seventh place.

Demographics

The high-tech industry has long argued that its largely white and Asian 
workforce reflects the demographics of engineering graduates. But Alfred 
Blumrosen said that argument doesn't hold up when you compare employment 
between companies in the same industry and the same region, and find that 
some companies stick out like statistical sore thumbs.

``Our average is the average number of minority professionals that are 
working in that metro area,'' said Blumrosen, a veteran discrimination law 
expert who helped organize the EEOC in 1965. ``That makes it hard to argue 
they're not there.''

But current EEOC officials have a very different view, particularly when it 
comes to the tech industry.

Vice Chairman Paul Igasaki said in a recent interview that after several 
years of looking for a big racial bias case in Silicon Valley, the agency 
has concluded that low numbers of blacks and Latinos in tech aren't 
entirely due to discrimination. Agency officials also say they don't 
investigate a company unless they're responding to complaints -- and there 
haven't been many filed against tech employers.

The Rutgers study, which was funded by the Ford Foundation, also documented 
a ``rising tide'' of participation by minorities and women in the 
California workforce. In 1975, companies employing more than 50 workers 
were 74 percent white; in 1999, that number had dropped to 51 percent.

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED

For more information about the study, as well as national conclusions about 
discrimination, go to www.eeo1.com.
****************************
Nando Times
China will spend $2.5 billion on tech research
The Associated Press

BEIJING (July 31, 2002 1:06 a.m. EDT) - China is planning to pump $2.5 
billion into a dozen science and technology projects in the next three to 
five years, the official Communist party newspaper reported Wednesday.

The research and development projects will be centered around electric 
vehicles, integrated circuits, herbal medicine modernization, dairy 
development and water-saving agriculture, the People's Daily said.

The projects are expected to help China "rapidly command a host of 
cutting-edge technologies in the 21st century, make significant 
technological breakthroughs and get industrialized in three to five years," 
the newspaper said, quoting sources from the Ministry of Science and 
Technology.

The projects, some of which have already been started, involve 22 provinces 
and municipalities.

Since China's entry into the World Trade Organizatoin last year, top 
officials have promised to spend money on projects that will encourage the 
inflow of investment, skills and technology.
************************
Reuters Internet Report
L.A. to Track Sex Offenders on Internet
Tue Jul 30, 8:13 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With national nerves raw after a series of 
high-profile child kidnappings, Los Angeles County officials on Tuesday 
approved a plan to post the general locations of sex offenders' homes on 
the Internet.

The Internet map would follow the design of San Diego County's "Regional 
Sex Offender Pin Map," which designates within about a half-block the areas 
where convicted sex offenders are living after being freed from prison.

As in the San Diego model, Los Angeles County residents would have to go to 
sheriff's stations to get addresses, photos and criminal histories of 
offenders because state law prohibits such information from being 
disseminated over the Internet.

"Putting general information on the county web site is a step toward 
assisting the public in identifying individuals that may pose a threat to 
their families or children," the motion by Supervisor Mike Antonovich stated.

The Los Angeles map will appear on the county's web site in about a month.

San Diego County's map became available online on July 1, in the midst of 
the trial of David Westerfield, a self-employed design engineer who is 
accused of kidnapping and murdering his 7-year-old neighbor, Danielle Van Dam.

Westerfield was not a convicted sex offender, nor was Alejandro Avila, a 
27-year-old factory worker who is charged with kidnapping, sexually 
assaulting and murdering 5-year-old Samantha Runnion of Orange County, 
California.

A Riverside County, Calif. jury acquitted Avila in 2000 of charges of 
molesting two 9-year-old girls.

Although raw statistics show no rise in the number of children being 
kidnapped, a series of brazen and high-profile abductions over the past 
year have touched a nerve with parents across the nation.

In addition to Samantha and Danielle, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was taken 
at gunpoint in June from the bedroom she shared with her sister in their 
Salt Lake City, Utah, home and has not been seen since.
************************
Reuters Internet Report
EU Seeks Views on Action Against Cybersquatters

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Seeking to crack down on abusive registration of 
Internet addresses, the European Commission ( news - web sites) launched an 
on-line consultation on Tuesday asking citizens if they feel threatened or 
worried by "cybersquatters."

Cybersquatters are individuals who buy Internet domain names with which 
they have no connection in the hope of reselling them at a high price to a 
person or company that shares the name.

Fearing that the practice may undermine the imminent launch of the .eu 
Internet domain, the EU Commission will use the findings of the 
consultation to consider taking action.

"Cybersquatting could prejudice our efforts to make .eu one of the engines 
to boost Internet use and e-commerce in Europe," European Information 
Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen said in a statement.

The EU recently approved the creation of .eu -- a new geographical domain 
name for the 15-nation bloc -- as the final tag of an Internet address, 
just as .uk is for Britain or .de for Germany.

The Commission hopes it will boost the EU's visibility on the Internet and 
facilitate e-commerce. It expects companies and organizations active 
throughout the bloc to register with the new domain name.

In its questionnaire, the Commission asked citizens and businesses whether 
they have ever received threatening letters claiming they were 
"cybersquatters."

It also asks whether, when trying to register a domain name, they were 
asked for an extortionate sum of money by someone who had registered the 
Internet address and refused to transfer it.

"We want to prevent abuses by "cybersquatters" in the future .eu top level 
domain, without hindering legitimate Internet users," EU Internal Market 
Commissioner Frits Bolkestein said.

Citizens can express their views up to October 31 by completing an on-line 
questionnaire on the Commission Web site at http://europa.eu.int/yourvoice.
**********************
MSNBC
Princeton president blasts snooping
 Admissions chief on leave after unauthorized Yale log-ins
 ASSOCIATED PRESS

PRINCETON, N.J., July 30  Princeton University's president has condemned 
the unauthorized visits from admissions office computers to a Yale 
University Web site for prospective students. In a message posted Monday on 
Princeton's Web site, President Shirley Tilghman said "basic ethical 
principles of privacy and confidentiality are at stake here. Violations of 
these principles ... must not, and will not, be tolerated."
YALE OFFICIALS have found 18 unauthorized log-ins to their site that were 
traced to computers at Princeton, including 14 from computers in its 
admissions office.
      The Yale site allowed undergraduate applicants to see if they were 
accepted to the university. Applicants could access the site and 
information about their own status simply by using their Social Security 
numbers and birthdates  information other schools they applied to could 
have on file.
       Marilyn Marks, a Princeton spokeswoman, would not comment on a 
report by The Washington Post that said Princeton admission officials 
accessed the account of fashion model Lauren Bush, the president's niece. 
Lauren Bush's publicist, Christine Schott of Elite Model Management in New 
York, told The Times of Trenton she will attend Princeton this fall after 
having been accepted there and at Yale.
       Stephen LeMenager, Princeton's associate dean and director of 
admission, said the school checked Yale's site simply to see how secure it 
was. Princeton gained access to the Web site using information from 
students who had applied to both schools.
       LeMenager is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an 
investigation.
      The site included a notice that only students, not parents or 
others, may access the site, and it warned that Yale would investigate and 
act on any unauthorized use.
       Marks said university officials have determined that the four 
log-ins not linked to the admissions office were not the fault of 
administrators.
       Three were made by Princeton students checking on the status of a 
sibling's Yale application, and the fourth involved a status check by a 
Yale applicant who used a Princeton computer, Marks said.
       Yale and Princeton are two of the country's wealthiest 
universities. The schools, which compete for the top students, have used 
financial aid and admissions reforms to lure the most attractive applicants.
************************

Lillie Coney
Public Policy Coordinator
U.S. Association for Computing Machinery
Suite 510
2120 L Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20037
202-478-6124
lillie.coney@xxxxxxx